Tag: Perfectionism

I’ve never been a very flexible person. You can ask my yoga teacher, who has seen me struggle with the “downward dog” pose. Or you might talk to my fifth grade gym instructor about the day I fell on my head trying to do a back-bend. My muscles have always defaulted to rigid and stiff rather than relaxed and malleable. So it seems to go with my approach to life, too. My perfectionistic personality likes to run a tight ship – with activities and schedules well-defined so that the outcome is predictable and safe.

The problem is, of course, that not everyone on the ship always follows the same manifesto – and sometimes they rock the boat off course!

Such was the case recently where I work. I was in charge of a major event with sixty international guests and worked for months to line up all the details. I had the schedule completed and confirmed down to the minute, with activities planned, a caterer hired, supplies purchased, and volunteers lined up. The scene was set for a perfectly executed day. Continue reading “The Freedom of Flexibility”→

I’m my own worst critic. Part of the problem is that I’m there to witness every one of my mistakes! Sometimes I attempt something and fail to perform as well as I think I could have. Other times I berate myself because I think I should have done something but didn’t even try. Either way, I am well-acquainted with that voice in my head that loves to remind me that I’ve fallen short.

That pesky internal companion has pressured me to perform “perfectly” since I was very young. As a child, I was driven to get straight A’s. My parents never overtly demanded honor roll achievement. Yet looking back, I recognize that they were perfectionists in their own right, whether it was striving for flawless Christian behavior, plowing the straightest corn rows, or keeping an immaculate house. I definitely inherited the perfectionist gene. Continue reading “The Ultimate Cure for Perfectionism”→